Reviews by alleykatking:

A- Pours a light hazed golden orange color. One finger white head shows medium retention. Very nice long streaks of sticky lace left on the glass.

S- Aroma is citrus hop forward. I like the fact that there was a piney earthy aroma that comes through next. Light caramel malts do come through in the ending of the aroma a little bit before a nice light medicinal alcohol finish comes up on the aroma.

T- Citrus hops blast forward right off the get go with this beer. Hints of bready caramel malts show up for a second before a piney bite comes through for the second round of hops. Ending of this beer has a super sweet alcohol bite to it along with some more citrus hop forwardness to it.

M- Medium mouthfeel. Carbonation is good for the style. Both fruity and piney hops dominate the palate. Aftertaste is mostly fruity and piney hops along with a nice warming alcohol. Flavors were well balanced for the style and this one was hop forward. No off flavors were present but there at times seemed to be a little alcohol heat in the ending. Medium high alcohol drying on the palate.

O- I thought this beer overall was good. Actually, I thought it was great. The ABV is in the mid-range where it won't kill you to drink a couple in a row but it might impair you to not drink anything else. A hop crusher on the palate. Can see why this one won the IPA challange. Good job Fat Heads!

More User Reviews:

Head Hunter has enough hoppiness that it could be coloured green. It's not of course, but it aught to be. This honeyed golden beer is a divine nectar indeed and looks picture perfect: brilliant clarity, resplendent highlighting, stalwart carbonation and a bulky head.

What sets this IPA apart, however, is not its appearance but its aroma; the smell of hops can be appreciated from the other side of the table (literally, I'm not kidding). I've been around the IPA block enough times that it now takes something pretty special to impress me - and the brimming, aromatic, vivid, layered hop notes here are certainly noteworthy.

Head Hunter has at its core an iron fist of juicy, acidic, tropical fruitiness that includes mango, pineapple, grapefruit, lime, tangerine, and guava. The finish is accented by an almost minty note and herbal, piny backbone. It's astounding that something with such a strong personality be so agreeable; one could drink this all night (and will want to!)

Although it feels broad and large - and at 7.5% and 87 IBUs this is certainly no skinny puppy - it drinks with effortless ease. Most IPAs of similar strength and character (even some of the best ones) are nowhere as approachable nor so endlessly drinkable; nothing pithy or astringently bitter, there wasn't a single rough patch or off-note in the whole growler.

Believe the hype - Head Hunter is the real deal. It is the living, breathing antithesis of the theory that all the best IPAs hail from the West Coast. People in Cleveland must be saying: "Pliney, who?" With Fat Head's you pretty much can't go wrong - there's not a bad beer on the list - but make one-hundred percent certain you try Head Hunter. As if you needed me to tell you that!

Thanks to cneville for this local extra! Pours a very nice, almost perfect looking amber and copper color with pretty decent clarity. A big, foamy white head mounts itself slowly and leaves some fat lacing as it slowly crawls back down.

The aroma begins with a solid installment of heavy, heavy tropical and citrus fruits - at first, it's almost all you can smell. Pineapple would probably be the biggest, followed by some grapefruit and tangerines. The fruits induce a subtle sweetness on the nose as well as a mild, pith-like bitterness. It doesn't take long for the hops to come alive; pine, grass, and some light and spicy white pepper. Pretty West Coast-ish just from the aroma - and that's certainly a good thing. Malt is very light and subdued, I'm not really picking much up at all.

Upon the initial sip, the beer is just a touch more watery than I would have guessed, but it's not bad by any means - perhaps I just set my expectations a bit too high after that monstrous aroma. The hops hit first on the palate; white pepper, herbal, grassy, earthy, and almost a bit dirty. Pretty raw and in-your-face - I like it. The hops aren't left alone for long; citrus makes its way into the mix, coming in more so on the bitter side of things - citrus peel, pith, skins - you name it. Oranges and tangerines jump out more and more with each successive sip, and finally add a bit of sweetness - though some of that may be from the underlying malt, which also brings a mild bread and cracker flavor to the mix, albeit cowering in comparison to the hop profile. Bitter 'til the very end with just a hint of sweetness as it fades out. Slightly sticky on the palate with a medium body and medium-high carbonation.

Damn, how did this fly under the radar for so long? This beer is fantastic. Any IPA fan will go nuts for this - very tropical and fruity aromas coupled with bitter and hoppy flavor profiles make for some of the best IPAs out there. Hopheads rejoice!

Once in a while a beer comes along with the ability to turn my jaded head, and this is one of them. Of course, it's probably been around forever and I've just found it now!

It seems so big, so full of malt and just dripping in juicy tropical-citrus! It's grainy, malty-sweet and almost honeyish with a golden caramel side. That's then livened by notes of tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, and mango as well as some pine and grass and pungent herbs - or is it the other way around, with the malt bouncing the fruit off of it? Either way it seems so full and satiating, and yet it's really not that big, it's simply medium bodied with a standard carbonation - it's just rich. A solid bitterness balances it and it finishes dry with a quick passing dollop of golden-orange malt and lingering citrus. Fairly complex and interesting, really nicely balanced all around, and highly drinkable. Worth seeking out!

My go-to beer. Possibly the most under-hyped, best tasting IPA available. Similar to all FH's beers, this is a total hop bomb. Honestly, I kind of hope the BA world keeps giving a sh*t less about this beer so I can keep getting it fresh and delish without too much effort.

Hands down the best IPA out of Ohio, and definitely does not get the national credit it deserves. Smell is outstanding with citrus dankness, and tropical fruit. Taste is very bitter, but done exceptionally well. If you like a citrus, resiny, hop explosion, this is for you. Uncivilized and aggressive!

Look is above par; smell is like refined bitterness, coarse, grassy, and filled with grapefruit. The taste follows with exquisite balance. It's dank; it's bready; it's fruity; it's dry; it's malty; it's all of those things. This beer is world-class. So damn larrrge. If you want an IPA that hits on all your notes, yet traditional, this is the one.

Head Hunter is always running through my veins… Living <15mins from the production brewery MIGHT be a reason why, but it really is because the beer is just so damn good. I actually only drink this fresh on tap, never from the bottle.

Aroma is piney/resinous with notes of citrus. Flavor is intensely bitter, a little sweetness in there but a dry finish overall. Carbonation is lively, mouthfeel is typical for an IPA. Color is a nice clear, golden hue… At least a finger of head typical.

I suppose you can say this beer is not all that balanced in the finish, but in a good way. The hop bitterness is so intense, sometimes that can linger on the palette for a while. Fat Head’s describes Head Hunter as being “aggressive” and that is a perfect way to describe it. It really is an intense IPA with delicious, complex flavors.

Excellent IPA. The scent conjures foggy images of late afternoon tea time (perhaps solely herbal) at a sophisticated cat lady's domicile. Typically I would consider this repugnant, though for some inexplicable reason, I find myself memorized by the humulus lupulus. Mouthfeel is exemplary. Consider this hophead's intractable palate sufficiently placated.